At the end of this week, on November 11th, we mark Remembrance Day 2022. We have recognized the importance of remembering sacrifices made so that we could live in peace and freedom. It has occurred to me that the men and women who have served in war times and those who continue to serve do not generally consider themselves heroes. They have done what they saw to do and have not expected recognition. In Scripture we read the words of Jesus, 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. I recently witnessed this same kind of desire to give without receiving recognition. My husband Bob and I had gone for lunch at a small local restaurant. As several customers arrived, they were greeted by name and seated at the few tables available. When one older couple pulled up, the waitress went to open the door for them because the woman was in a wheel chair. Her husband carefully wheeled his wife to their table and the waitress seemed to know what they would order and had even saved 2 pieces of their favourite pie (coconut cream) for them. When they were finishing up their meal, I overheard as the waitress came to their table and told them that the young couple who had been seated behind them had paid for their meal. By this time, the young couple had paid for their own meal and had driven off. There was no opportunity to thank them or for them to receive recognition for what they had done. They had chosen to extend kindness and had not expected anything in return. What they would have received was the blessing of knowing they had done something that would bring good and gratitude to someone else. We can be inspired by this kind of giving spirit at Remembrance Day and we too can choose to extend ourselves without expecting recognition. In our prayers this week, we will remember and give thanks for those who have served. We will also ask God to guide us in how we can give and care for others out of our love for our Lord and not expecting reward or recognition. Please plan to pause for our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER tomorrow, November 9th at 1 pm.
Recognizing that remembering and praying and loving all belong together, Pastor Lola
Our loving and eternal God who has been our help in ages past and our hope for years to come, we see in You a great heart of love and giving. This is the same generous love that led You to give Your own Son Jesus who gave Himself for us. Thank You God for those who have followed this humble pattern of giving of themselves. When we see so much evidence of selfishness and greed in our world, we are inspired to remember that there are those who have given in ways that have secured our peace and freedom. Some of those who have served we know by name and we honour their memory. Still, there are countless individuals who have served that we do not know by name. We pray that we will acknowledge their sacrifices and respond with gratitude. May we never be so busy carrying on with our own lives that we fail to realize what has been given on our behalf. Today we pray for our world and places where the struggle for peace is being fought at significant cost. We admit that sometimes we wonder how long until peace will be established and fortified. We pray for those who grow weary in this fight for peace and justice. Thank You God that You keep reminding us that You are the true source of peace. It is only as we turn to You and ask You to guide us on the path of peace that this can be found. We as human beings need You to grow in us a desire for love and forgiveness instead of hate and revenge. We thank You God that You do make it possible for each of us to engage in quiet acts of kindness and courage. We pray that we will give for the good of others without seeking recognition and attention. Our desire is for You to show us each day what we can do and how we can give in ways that will cause Your kingdom to come and Your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. God, we know that You have not given up on our world even when we see so many examples of Your will not being done here on earth. Please give us consistent courage to keep giving of ourselves in order for others to know Your endless love and grace. Thank You God that when we do see needs in the lives of people and respond to those needs, we are obeying Your divine direction. It is in those moments that we are following the example of Jesus Who laid down His life for us. Our longing is that the simple, anonymous acts of love that we offer will cause attention to be drawn to Jesus and for people then to discover Him as their Lord and Saviour. This we pray, in Jesus’ Name. AMEN.